Pubdate: Thu, 07 Jul 2016 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Copyright: 2016 Associated Press Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1 Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388 POT CAN BE SOLD AT PHARMACIES, BUT FEW WANT TO MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) - Rossana Rilla could sell marijuana under Uruguay's pioneering law that lets pharmacies distribute pot. But she says there is no way she will. In her 28 years as a pharmacist, she has been beaten, dragged across the floor and threatened by thieves at gunpoint and with a grenade. She fears that selling marijuana would only make her store a bigger target for robbers and burglars. "You see their faces and you can tell right away that they are not consumers who are here just to buy" marijuana, Rilla said about the "suspicious people" who have recently been coming into her Montevideo pharmacy asking if she sells pot. She isn't alone in avoiding the government's marijuana program. Most of the country's pharmacists haven't signed on, citing security concerns and complaining of paperwork, cost increases or opposition from customers to selling legalized pot. Uruguay legalized the cultivation and sale of marijuana in 2013 in a bid to create the world's first government-regulated national marketplace for pot. The goal was to fight rising homicide and crime rates associated with drug trafficking in the South American country. But while the government wants to start selling marijuana at pharmacies in the coming weeks, so far only 50 out of 1,200 pharmacies are registered, stoking a debate over how the drug should be distributed. "I don't see the need to get into a conflict with people who are already selling weed in the neighborhoods," said Marcelo Trujillo, who owns three pharmacies in Montevideo's Cerro neighborhood. "I just don't want to expose myself or my employees," he said. Next to him, a worker repaired a glass that was shattered during a recent robbery attempt. The law allows for the growing of pot by licensed individuals, the formation of growers and users clubs, and the sale by pharmacies of 40 grams of marijuana a month to registered users. While the plan has been widely applauded globally and seen as going beyond marijuana legislation in the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington, most Uruguayans oppose it. "My customers generally don't agree with the plan," said Isabel Regent, head of the Association of Interior Pharmacies, which represents businesses outside the capital, Montevideo. "Besides the fear of robberies, enrolling in the system means a hike in costs and having to be up to date with all the paperwork demanded by the health ministry, and not all pharmacies are in a condition to do this." Regent owns a pharmacy in Punta del Este, an exclusive seaside resort where tens of thousands of tourists from neighboring Argentina come to vacation each year. But she decided not to enroll in the government plan. She wouldn't be able to sell pot to foreign tourists because the law only allows sales to Uruguayan citizens and legal residents over age 18. Pharmacies in three of the four Uruguayan states bordering Brazil have also declined to enroll in the plan. No studies have been conducted to see if pharmacists would face extra risks from selling pot, but most feel it's just not worth the risk. Fernando Gil of the Interior Ministry's communications office said that no pharmacists had reported any threats to police. Some pharmacists say their lack of interest in participating goes beyond security concerns. "I oppose as a matter of principles," said Julio Gadea. "I've been a pharmacist for 40 years. Pharmacies were created to sell medicines, not drugs." Experts say delays in the marijuana initiative stem from the fact that no other country has attempted such an ambitious endeavor and that authorities still lack detailed plans and rules for regulating the market. Several of the pharmacists interviewed said they hadn't ruled out signing on later if the program is successful. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom